


wound so tight

by frozensight



Series: Magnus Coffee Blends [3]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 18:39:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3820756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozensight/pseuds/frozensight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both Erik and Charles, though separately, get ready for their date, with a little help from their friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	wound so tight

"Hold on," begins Raven as she sits in the middle of Charles' bed, surrounded by shirts and pants and ties that have been haphazardly thrown from his closet, "you have a date?" 

Head bowed over his small collection of cufflinks, Charles replies, "Yes, I do, which is why I've asked you here because I have no _bloody_ idea what I should wear!" 

Raven sighs. "When and where?" 

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you_!" Charles stands straight so that he can face his sister, cufflinks abandoned for now. "Tonight, 8pm. He's taking me to some restaurant called The Blue Star, which I've never heard of before. Now," he breaks off to hold up two ties, "do I go with the stripes or the solid?" 

"Neither." She waves her hand when Charles opens his mouth to speak, knowing that indignant look on his face anywhere. "Charles, if you wear a tie at all to The Blue Star, then people will think you're up to something." 

"But—" 

"Charles, The Blue Star isn't a restaurant, it's a _diner_." 

He blinks at her, hands dropping to his sides, the ties dangling towards the floor. "A diner?" 

"Yes, though granted it's one of the better ones around, it's still not exactly a place you get dressed up for." 

"No, I should say not, but that poses a whole different slew of problems!" Charles throws the ties onto his bed, narrowing avoiding Raven's head, and begins sifting through his closet again. "What the bloody hell do you wear to a diner?!" 

"You're hopeless." 

"I know." He pouts a little as he turns back to her. "Please help me?" 

Raven laughs as she climbs off the bed and approaches her brother's closet, pushing him gently away to look for herself. "Sit down and relax. Tell me about this date of yours while I look for something better than a suit. He's got you awfully worked up." 

Charles smiles, gratefully plopping on his own bed, heedless of his clothes. "Well, I met him at that coffee shop you recommended? Magnus Coffee?" 

"Ah yeah, Lehnsherr's place. How'd you like it?" 

"Uh, a lot, apparently, as I gawked quite embarrassingly at him when he was handing me my coffee, and somehow that led to him giving me his number. Also—how often, exactly, do you frequent there?" 

"Usually twice a week, sometimes more, sometimes less; why?" 

"Well, it's just that my date, tonight, is with, ah, the owner of Magnus Coffee." 

There's a moment of silence, Raven stops moving in the closet, and Charles watches her, worried about what her reaction might be. Eventually she meets his eyes, her expression baffled. "You're going on a date with _Erik_?" 

"Ah, yes. That's not a problem, is it? I mean, I… now seem to recall you mentioning a fellow at the coffee shop you fancied for a while, so if this is awkward I can call it off and we'll just pretend it never happened. I know that you're probably over it, what with dating Hank now and everything, but there's like a code or something isn't there? A code that says it's kind of unsavory to date your sister's old crush?" 

He would've gone on longer, but Raven throws a balled up tie at Charles' forehead, effectively shutting him up. "I don't give a damn if you date Erik, Charles. I had a crush on him for like two weeks, _tops_ , until Emma convinced me that I'd be better off pursuing someone else. Soon after, I met Hank, and I was happy to just have Erik as my casual friend who makes a great latte." 

Charles picks up the tie, fiddling with it as he says, "So I won't be breaking any kind of sibling code by saying that I might find him to be possibly one of the most intriguing men I've ever met?" 

She chuckles at him, but gives him a fond look before returning to her search through his clothes. "I'm happy for you. You deserve someone who makes you this worried about what you'll be wearing on a first date, even if that man is Erik Lehnsherr." 

"Thank you, Raven." 

"Don't mention it. Besides, we still have to find something for you to wear, so don't quite thank me yet." 

He groans, getting back up to try and help her search. "I'm afraid my lifestyle doesn't really allow for many casual affairs, and thus my wardrobe has grown to reflect that." 

"I really need to make you get out more," mumbles Raven to herself before she makes a thoughtful noise and holds out a green sweater. "Here! This one looks nice, but also incredibly comfortable. _Plus_ it doesn't have those dumb elbow pads like most of yours do. Sometimes you're such a typical professor." 

"Hush up, they make me look dignified." 

Raven rolls her eyes as Charles takes the sweater from her. "They make you look twenty years older." She glances around at all of the clothes she can see; an eyebrow raises when she doesn't find what she's looking for. "Please tell me you own a pair of _jeans_." 

Charles huffs and walks over to his dresser, opening a drawer and pulling out jeans. "I'm not _that_ stuffy, Raven; please give me some credit." 

\------ 

"Erik, I swear to God, go home." 

"I can't go home, Emma; my shift doesn't end for another hour." 

Emma snorts, her eyes all but rolling back into her head. "You _make_ the hours; no one is going to report you for skipping out early to get ready for your date." 

"Besides, boss," starts Armando, hopping up to sit on the counter behind the bar and smiling, "you're doing more harm than good. You've mixed up two of the last five orders." 

Erik grunts from where he's refilling the bakery display. "That's hardly a fair assessment of one's faculties. Everyone makes mistakes." 

"I don't know if you've met you, boss, but while everyone else makes mistakes, you're standing off to the side being _perfect_." 

"Armando, I'm hardly perfect. I'm simply meticulous." Emma coughs into her hand, and Erik ignores how it sounds like 'control freak.' "Anyway, all I did was hand the wrong drink to the wrong customer in the wrong order. Maybe if I could read the cups better, that wouldn't happen." 

"Oh no, this is _not_ my fault! My handwriting has been the same every day for the past ten years; you can _not_ pin your fuck-ups on me." She crosses her arms, leaning against the cash register, and stares down Erik. "Seriously, Lehnsherr, you're more than useless today. Armando and I have the shop covered, and you're clearly too preoccupied about your date with the professor. Go home and freak out there, so we don't have to deal with you." 

His mouth opens, prepared to yell at her about how he's the owner of this business and he _will fire her_ , but at that moment a customer comes in, preventing him from saying a word. He shuts the bakery case and walks off towards his office, ignoring the smirk Armando gives him as he jumps down from the counter. 

Some days, Erik really wishes it was possibly to run a coffee shop by himself. 

\------ 

Erik goes home fifteen minutes later because there is absolutely _nothing_ to do in his office—he typically gets most of his paperwork done before the shop opens—and there's only so long he can sit at his desk playing solitaire. He steadfastly ignores the knowing looks that Armando and Emma shoot him as he walks out of his office, wrapping his scarf around his neck in the process. 

"The keys are in the back. Emma, please make sure everything is cleaned _properly_ before you leave this time." 

"Yeah, yeah, I know how to close up, Lehnsherr." Emma doesn't look up from where she's tidying up behind the bar. 

Armando waves from where he's wiping down a table. "Have fun on your date, boss!" 

He doesn't say anything else, but rather lets the door swinging shut behind him speak for him. 

\------ 

Charles isn't sure if it's possible to have a worse evening than he's having right now. 

The train he needs to get to the diner had problems and is now fifteen minutes late. He can't even tell Erik that he's on his way because he doesn't have any signal down in the subway, and if he goes back up, he'll have to pay to get back in again. When he finally does get on his desired train and to the sidewalk above the station, he gets splashed by a car hitting one of the remaining big puddles from the storm the day before. Vaguely and uncomfortably damp, late, and now thoroughly irritated, Charles finally enters The Blue Star, the bell above the door chiming as it eeks closed. 

He barely gets to look around before he hears someone calling out his name, and he turns to see Erik sitting off to the side at a booth, giant smile on his face. 

"I'm dreadfully late, and I apologize, you see there was a train and no signal and then this _car_ —" 

Erik puts a hand on Charles' as he sits down across from him. "No need to excuse yourself, Charles. I'm just glad you decided to show up after all. I had begun to think you wouldn't." 

"I was sure that you'd leave before I could even get here. I'm almost half an hour late after all." 

He simply shrugs before waving down a waitress. "I had nothing better to do than wait and see." 

Charles grins at him, realizing that their hands are still touching, something that doesn't even change when the waitress takes their orders. After she brings Charles a coffee and refills Erik's own cup, he shifts his hand so that he can hold Erik's hand in return. "Anyway, so you're the owner of a coffee shop?" 

\------ 

Despite the fact that Erik had arrived at the diner ten minutes early and Charles arrived thirty minutes late, the date goes pretty well—at least for Erik, though by the way their hands only break apart when their food is placed on the table, he thinks Charles feels the same. 

After they finish eating, they receive their receipts and Charles insists on paying separately—"It's just a first date; neither of us should feel obligated to pay for the other until a couple in, right?"—which gives Erik hope that he's not the only one who's already looking forward to future dates. Erik tentatively reaches out for Charles' hand again as they leave the diner with a bell chime, and he can't help grinning when Charles intertwines their fingers as they begin walking down the street. 

They continue talking about their respective jobs—Erik telling Charles about how he started the shop and how he loves yet hates his employees, while Charles talks about being a professor and how it's fulfilling if not frustrating at times. Before they know it, they've deviated to the topic of favorite movies, and they've been sitting at a bench in the park for almost an hour, despite the fact that it’s late fall. 

"Oh bugger," mumbles Charles when he glances at his watch, assisted by the nearest lamp post. "I have a meeting at 8:30 in the morning." 

Erik nods as he stands up, holding a hand out to pull Charles up next to him. "It's fine. I probably should be going too anyway; I have to open the shop at 5AM." 

"Do you open the shop yourself _every_ morning?" asks Charles as they begin making their way from the park back to the nearest subway station. 

"Not every morning, but most. Sometimes Emma or Azazel opens, but I like being there at opening and close. It's gratifying to see the shop fill up with customers and then empty out by the end of the night; it brings the whole day full circle, in a way." He doesn't realize at first that Charles is staring at him, but when he does, Erik raises an eyebrow. "What?" 

"It's adorable how much you care about your shop is all. You've had it for so long, yet you still enjoy the simplicity of it." 

He shrugs. "It keeps me grounded, gives me something to do. I've always loved coffee, so I decided to make a career out of it." Erik gestures towards Charles as they stop in front of the stairs that lead down into the subway. "You're very much the same. You fell in love with genetics, and here you are, a professor of genetics. I'm no different than you, Charles." 

"No, I suppose we are rather similar, aren't we?" Charles grins, and Erik can't help but return it. "This is where we part ways for the night though—unless you'll also be using the subway?" 

"Normally, yes, but I drove here tonight." He pauses, squeezes Charles' hand a tiny bit in lieu of meeting Charles' eyes. "In which case, I mean, I could give you a ride home if you'd like to save a little on fare?" 

A few seconds pass, and Erik thinks that maybe he's overstepped, that Charles will walk down to the subway, and he'll be lucky to receive another text from the man. "That's kind of you to offer, Erik. I'd like that a lot, actually. You're probably a lot more reliable than public transit." 

Pointing over his shoulder back the way they'd come, Erik asks, "Shall we then?" 

Charles rubs his thumb over Erik's, and Erik ignores the way it makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Their eyes meet, and Charles' smile almost makes Erik forget the chill in the air. "Let's." 

\------ 

Raven is asleep on his couch when Charles finally walks into his apartment, some time close to midnight. He tries to move quietly, but she’s stirring awake by the time he’s set his keys down on the table and toed off his shoes. She doesn’t speak until he’s hanging his coat and scarf up. 

“How’d the date go?” 

“Quite well, I think, despite me being horribly late,” replies Charles as he sits down next to her on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table because Raven’s taking up two-thirds of the available cushion space. “We haven’t agreed to another date just yet, but I’m not worried about it. He drove me home, which I find rather sweet.” 

“I’m happy for you, Charles.” Raven nudges her brother with her blanketed foot. “So, did you two kiss?” 

“I shan’t kiss and tell, Raven; it’s not becoming.” He pushes off the couch, standing over her, smiling softly. 

“Yeah, okay, _whatever_ , ‘cuz your face is _telling_ me that you two totally did.” She stretches out, reclaiming the rest of the couch. 

Charles laughs as he makes his way to his bedroom. “Goodnight, Raven.” 

“Night, Charles.” 

He can’t keep the grin off his face as he gets ready for bed, and honestly he doesn’t mind at all. 

\------ 

When Erik finally gets back to his apartment, it’s too late to go to bed and too early to be up to get ready for work. He compromises by taking a long shower—that he almost falls asleep during—and wasting some time by reading up on Charles. It’s amazing, really, the things he’s accomplished in the field of genetics, despite being so young, and Erik feels a little like he pales in comparison—that Charles could do much better than the owner of a small coffee shop. Then he remembers the way Charles kept glancing at him or the way their hands were hardly apart or the way Charles’ lips felt against his, and Erik finds that he doesn’t care. 

By the time 3AM rolls around, Erik’s accidentally fallen asleep on the keyboard of his computer. He wakes up when the alarm on his phone sounds, and he rubs at the key impressions on his cheek as he shuts it off. 

He’s incredibly tired when he opens the shop that day, and decides then that he’ll spend most of his time in his office, both to avoid his employees’ knowing looks and to take a nap before tackling some paperwork. 

\------ 

Charles tiptoes out of his apartment about an hour early for his meeting, leaving his sister sleeping on the couch, but not before pressing a kiss to her exposed forehead. He gets to Magnus Blends about twenty minutes later, barely even hesitating as he walks through the door. Sure he didn't call or text ahead, but Erik said he'd be there and the whole point is for Charles to _surprise_ him, after all. 

However, he is not greeted by Erik, but rather the complete absence of him and two of his employees. 

"Good morning, how may I help you?" asks the man at the register and it's hardly appropriate for Charles to run away now that they've noticed him—and they would because though the place isn't empty, it's still slow enough that there's not currently a line. 

"Uh, ah, yes, um—" 

“Oh my god, you’re the Professor!” exclaims the barista tending bar, and Charles blinks, confused as to how they could’ve possibly known that. He’s not even wearing the stereotypical jacket with the elbow patches of which Raven loves to remind him he owns four. 

“Ah, yes, I do teach, but—” 

“ _Oh_ ,” begins the man at the register, grinning at Charles now, who feels like he’s definitely missed something, “You’re _the_ Professor.” 

“No, I’m just _a_ professor, actually.” 

The barista, who would be making Charles’ drink at the moment if he had ordered yet, smiles at him from next to the cashier and goes, “Okay, we should be clearer then, you’re _Erik’s_ Professor.” 

“We’ve only been on one date, so I’d hardly say something so possessive as that—” 

“With the way he’s been fucking up while he thinks of you? I’d say it’s warranted,” comments the cashier, nametag reading Azazel when Charles finally looks at it. “Not to mention you came in here, probably thinking you’d chat with him a bit as you waited for your coffee to be fixed.” 

“I—” 

“Don’t worry about it, Professor!” Armando is apparently the name of the other barista, and it sounds vaguely familiar from the stories Erik had told about his employees the night before. He turns his head towards the back of the shop, where a closed door faced them, and yells, “Hey boss, your boyfriend’s here!” 

Charles wants to correct him on calling them boyfriends—it’s been _one date_ —but he gets distracted when there’s a huge thud and crash from behind the door, which opens a couple seconds later as Erik emerges, hair ruffled from sleeping and a red mark on his face from where he’d been leaning against his hand. As he shuts the door behind him, Charles can’t help but notice that some papers are scattered on the floor and it appears the desk chair has found its way onto its side. 

“Charles!” Erik may be surprised to see him, but nevertheless he seems happy about it as well. “I thought you had a meeting?” 

“I do, but it’s not for another half an hour, and your shop is relatively close to campus. I figured I’d drop by and get a coffee here instead of from the lounge, but if it’s a bad time, I’ll just go.” 

“Nonsense, we’re not busy—” 

“How would you know, bossman? You’ve been in your office since the doors opened.” 

“—what would you like?” Erik finishes, stoutly ignoring the remark from Azazel, who’s resting against the register, watching them like they’re primetime television. 

“Uh, what would you recommend?” 

Erik takes a moment to ponder this, looking back at his own menu. “The Genosha blend is my personal favorite, but Hazelnuttin’ seems to have become very popular amongst guests.” 

“I’ll try the Genosha then—cream, no sugar.” 

“Coming right up!” Armando turns and begins making the drink before Erik can open his mouth to respond. 

“I’d also like a buttered croissant, actually.” Azazel nods, quietly smirking to himself as he gets the requested item. When he hands it over, Charles tries to give him money to pay for it, but Azazel refuses to take it. 

“Bossman wouldn’t make you pay, so I’m not gonna.” 

Charles looks over at Erik to make sure this transaction—or the lack of one—is okay with him, and is a little shocked when he finds Erik appearing just as caught off guard as him. When he realizes Charles is staring at him, he shakes his head a little before saying, “Azazel is right, for once; this one’s on the house, Charles.” 

“Yeah, _this one_ ,” mutters Azazel under his breath as he walks off to refill the little service station by the entrance. 

Erik ignores him and focuses on Charles, who has decided to already start on his croissant while waiting for his coffee. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon.” 

“I thought it’d make a nice surprise,” replies Charles after swallowing. “I was late last night, after all, so I figured that I’d make it up by stopping by before my meeting.” 

A soft smile graces Erik’s face, and Charles has never been happier that he only got five hours of sleep. “I appreciate it, Charles, truly.” 

“Yeah, because otherwise he would’ve slept in his office until the lunch rush.” Armando enters the conversation again, holding out Charles’ coffee to him with a tiny grin on his face. 

“I wasn’t sleeping; I was doing paperwork.” 

“Uh-huh, tell that to the handprint on your face, boss.” 

Charles chuckles, which seems to take all the wind out of Erik’s sails, and with a sheepish shrug, Erik rubs his cheek and concedes, “I might’ve been resting my eyes _before_ I started on the paperwork.” 

“We were out rather late, weren’t we?” 

“How late?” Both Charles and Erik raise their eyebrows at Armando, who ducks his head. “I was just asking because Emma told me to.” 

Erik huffs. “Emma is hardly the example you should be following, Armando.” The door chimes as a few customers come into the store, and Erik gives both his employees pointed looks as he takes Charles’ arm and leads him outside. 

“Things are never dull here, are they?” asks Charles when the door chimes and swings shut after them. Through the window it’s obvious that both Armando and Azazel are still trying to keep tabs on them while working, and Charles thinks it’s more than a little hilarious the way Erik looks inside with fond frustration. 

“I’m sorry about them. They like to think that they have some sort of right to the on-goings of my life simply because I listen to when they go on about theirs.” 

Charles gives a half-shrug. “It’s endearing. They genuinely care about you.” He wants to say more—to ask for another kiss—because Erik’s eyes are getting just as sharp as they had before Erik had kissed him last night, but of course his phone chooses that moment to remind him that he only has twenty minutes to get to his office for the meeting. He squeezes his eyes shut, leaning his head on Erik’s shoulder. “Sorry that I have to go already, but it’s a meeting with the college deans and it’s frustratingly important.” 

“It’s fine, Charles; I should go back to work as well.” Erik stops, his hand lingering on Charles’ arm as their eyes meet. He gives Charles a small grin as he takes a half step closer. “Before that, however, I don’t suppose you’d mind if I—” 

Before Erik can finish, Charles presses a kiss to his lips, being very mindful of the fact he’s holding a coffee cup and a croissant. He steps back after a bit, though incredibly reluctantly, and smiles at Erik, whose hands hover in the air on either side of Charles. “Was that okay?” 

“Yes, Charles,” Erik replies, grin widening, “that was okay, and as much as I’d love to kiss you again, I’m afraid you really should be going.” 

A glance at his watch confirms this, and Charles kisses Erik again quickly before backing away and off towards the college campus. “I’ll call you later!” 

Erik watches him leave until he can’t differentiate Charles from the other pedestrians, and goes back inside of the shop, entering to the applause of both Azazel and Armando—even a few of the customers joining in for the sake of mob mentality. With a roll of his eyes, Erik walks over to the counter, grabs himself a pastry, and then retreats to his office once more. 

“Don’t bother me unless you need backup.” 

The door shuts on Armando and Azazel laughing, and Erik finds his ‘now hiring’ sign and puts it on top of his desk. He knows he won’t be firing them anytime soon, but pretending that it’s a possibility relaxes him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was supposed to just be them getting ready for the date and then I'd have a separate installment of the post-first date bits, completely bypassing the first date itself, but then all of that happened at once. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
